Christmas

The series of videos I have is from tonight, when the girls were dancing to "Linus and Lucy" (their new favorite Christmas song), and were overtired from short naps and a trip to church for Christmas eve service.  Add in some sugar cookies for dinner, and you have these three (nearly failed) attempts to wish you all a Merry Christmas:

In church on Sunday, our pastor talked about Jesus' Wish List.  On it are hope, love, faith, joy, and peace.  May you all have a blessed Christmas where you can give these gifts not only today, but all year long.

And THIS is Why I Love My Husband

A few weeks ago, Mitch had told me that he had booked massages for us and arranged Katie to come out and sit with the girls so we could have a night out.  Shocked and excited, I anxiously looked forward to Date Night, as we had not been out for a very long time.  I had lots of questions - what else would we do?  where would we eat?  how late would we stay out? - but Mitch was not very forthcoming with any details.  It was a surprise, he said, and so I just had to wait.

Yesterday, after my marathon week of concerts at school, I came home, scribbled some last-minute notes to Katie for the girls, and walked out the door.  Mitch had picked up Katie at work since she and Boston share a car, and so as we pulled out of the driveway I asked Mitch if Katie was just staying the night so that we would not have to drive her into Minneapolis at a late hour.  To my surprise, he said yes, and that we had a room booked at Hotel Ivy in Minneapolis for the evening.  Mitch not only booked a beautiful room right in downtown and arranged massages in the spa at the hotel, but had packed my bag (he had never done that before) and taken care of every detail for the girls.  Changed the sheets for Katie?  Done.  Made pancakes for the girls for Saturday morning breakfast?  Done.  Packed all of my makeup, which was in several places in the bathroom?  Done and done.

I was completely overwhelmed with love for my husband.  In our crazy, busy life, where most of our lives focus on our work and the girls, it was so nice for us to have a night to focus on ourselves and give attention to our own relationship.  And I was completely surprised, as Mitch has never done anything like this before.

I can't decide what I liked the best from our night out - dinner out at Hell's Kitchen, where there was a jazz group performing, or the massage, or the champagne we had in the room, or ordering room service for breakfast and lounging in the hotel robes and drinking coffee while watching the news.  I think I just liked being with Mitch.

Thanks, honey.  I am so lucky that we have each other.

This is Why I Love to Live in Minnesota

SNOW!!!!

After above-average temperatures this fall and no snow at all in November, it had finally snowed for the first time on Friday night - we got a dusting, enough for me to bundle the kids up on Saturday morning and pull them around the yard on the sled.  (Rookie error - as soon as both girls were bundled up and I had my hat and boots on, Gizmo let me know she had to go potty.  UGH.)  Both girls were excited, because we really had no significant snow to speak of last year, and Gizmo's brand new boots were worn only once.  Because Gizmo is a growing girl, she got to break in her brand new purple boots and black snow pants today, while Gonzo used hand-me-downs (which are still cute as can be).  By the end of the day, most of the snow was gone. 

Until this morning.  A couple of inches were on the ground when I woke up, and the snow fell steadily all day long.  We went out to play this afternoon after naps (and after potty breaks), and I have to say that I don't remember having that much fun in the snow in a very long time.

Gizmo was really excited to walk around, and after Mitch gave her a few tips on walking in the deep snow, she was ready to venture around the yard.

Gonzo, on the other hand, had her doubts about this whole snow thing.

She eventually came around.

We spent an hour building a snow elf (the snow didn't pack well enough for a snowman), taking turns riding on the sled, making snow angels, and making "snowball soup" for our snow elf to eat.

The snow stopped early this evening, and when Mitch stuck the ruler out in the snow, we have about 10 inches of the fluffy white stuff.  Mitch certainly got in his workout today, shoveling the driveway three times.  It was so great to be outside this afternoon with the neighbors, who were out taking care of their own driveways and playing in the snow.  Our neighbor's dog, Moose, came over to play while we were outside, and he enjoyed catching snowballs in the air.  The temperature was not too cold - about 30 degrees, and so we were able to have fun without feeling too chilly.  It was truly a perfect afternoon in the snow.

We'll see our lawn again in March!